Promotion

Douglas preparing for Liberace

I just read an article today interviewing Michael Douglas who is currently fighting cancer of the throat, and I have to admit that after reading it I admire the man even more than I did before.

There are a couple of things he says that strike a personal chord, not only for what my mother went through, but also the strength of self-belief he's showing and how that connects with some of my own beliefs in life.

However the real hit of the story for Filmstalker is that he's still working, and that he's been preparing for that long talked about role as the great Liberace.

The film is set to start in May or June and not only will it require some work to make him look like Liberace, although to be fair there are many similarities already and I don't believe the work would really be needed to make us believe in him. The big area he will need though is the musical performance, that needs to be down to a tee to convince the fans of the entertainer.

Speaking during his interview to The Hollywood Reporter he revealed that he's still working hard on that, even during his treatment.

“I’ve got a bunch of tapes of performances,” Douglas says. “I’m thinking; I’m a blank slate. Everything shows me he was a lovely man; I just want to reconfirm that.”

You have to have respect for what he's going through and yet he's still preparing for his next role through all of that, and a role that could prove very demanding for him. Perhaps though it could also prove to be his most rewarding so far.

Personally I hope that there's much more to come in his career after Liberace, and I don't mean that in a morbid sense, I just hope he's not going to call it a day on his career any time soon. For me the older Michael Douglas is the better actor, and while we can look back on some younger iconic performances of his, I feel he's given some great personal performances in the latter part of his working career, and I don't think he's ready to retire just yet.

Filmstalker, and I'm sure I speak for many of the Filmstalker readers too, wish him all the best in his recovery and look forward to Liberace and many more films after that.